Timeline for Differences between "Can you play the guitar?" and "Can you play guitar?"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 4, 2015 at 23:57 | comment | added | Fattie | note that in your example the band-leader could, in facy, say "can you play the guitar tonight dude". and conversely, in a general conversation, one could say "can you play guitar?" the OP is just asking in simple grammatical terms if they're the same. | |
| Oct 4, 2015 at 23:56 | comment | added | Fattie | with bike, note that very similarly you can indeed say "can you ride downhill" or "can you ride paceline", which is an "insider" (let's say) question. but this i all wrong - it's just an ESL question and should be moved here (answer, "they're identical") | |
| Oct 4, 2015 at 17:30 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | P.S. Whilst, as I say, I agree with this answer, it is actually more complicated. There are many contexts that would make one or other of the phrases more apt. There are also circumstances where they are equivalent. | |
| Oct 4, 2015 at 17:25 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | As a musician, I agree with this answer. Maybe it could be worded more clearly. Here is my (very similar) version. "Can you play the guitar?" could be a conversational gambit, rather like "Can you ride a bike?" In contrast there might be a scenario at a dance-band concert. The guitarist has failed to turn up and someone is needed to play that instrument. The band-leader might phone a stand-in and say, "John, can you play guitar tonight? Bill hasn't turned up." He wouldn't say 'the guitar' in that request because that would indicate John and Bill shared a guitar. | |
| Jul 6, 2011 at 23:34 | comment | added | Goodbye Stack Exchange | Not in my experience. Do you have examples? | |
| Jul 6, 2011 at 23:08 | history | answered | Neil Coffey | CC BY-SA 3.0 |